diff --git a/httpclient/src/main/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/URIBuilder.java b/httpclient/src/main/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/URIBuilder.java
index 35c74de0ae..322ee239d7 100644
--- a/httpclient/src/main/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/URIBuilder.java
+++ b/httpclient/src/main/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/URIBuilder.java
@@ -171,15 +171,6 @@ private static String normalizePath(final String path, final boolean relative) {
         if (TextUtils.isBlank(s)) {
             return "";
         }
-        int n = 0;
-        for (; n < s.length(); n++) {
-            if (s.charAt(n) != '/') {
-                break;
-            }
-        }
-        if (n > 1) {
-            s = s.substring(n - 1);
-        }
         if (!relative && !s.startsWith("/")) {
             s = "/" + s;
         }
diff --git a/httpclient/src/main/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/URIUtils.java b/httpclient/src/main/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/URIUtils.java
index 7bb01c6e75..b06a952122 100644
--- a/httpclient/src/main/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/URIUtils.java
+++ b/httpclient/src/main/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/URIUtils.java
@@ -147,8 +147,20 @@ public static URI rewriteURI(
         if (dropFragment) {
             uribuilder.setFragment(null);
         }
-        if (TextUtils.isEmpty(uribuilder.getPath())) {
+        final String path = uribuilder.getPath();
+        if (TextUtils.isEmpty(path)) {
             uribuilder.setPath("/");
+        } else {
+            final StringBuilder buf = new StringBuilder(path.length());
+            boolean foundSlash = false;
+            for (int i = 0; i < path.length(); i++) {
+                final char ch = path.charAt(i);
+                if (ch != '/' || !foundSlash) {
+                    buf.append(ch);
+                }
+                foundSlash = ch == '/';
+            }
+            uribuilder.setPath(buf.toString());
         }
         return uribuilder.build();
     }
diff --git a/httpclient/src/test/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/TestURIBuilder.java b/httpclient/src/test/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/TestURIBuilder.java
index f96178b0ae..d9bdaa3587 100644
--- a/httpclient/src/test/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/TestURIBuilder.java
+++ b/httpclient/src/test/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/TestURIBuilder.java
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 import org.apache.http.Consts;
 import org.apache.http.NameValuePair;
 import org.apache.http.message.BasicNameValuePair;
+import org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers;
 import org.junit.Assert;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
@@ -328,4 +329,23 @@ public void testRelativePathWithAuthority() throws Exception {
         Assert.assertEquals(new URI("http://somehost/./mypath"), uri);
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testMultipleLeadingPathSlashes() throws Exception {
+        final URI uri = new URIBuilder()
+                .setScheme("ftp")
+                .setHost("somehost")
+                .setPath("//blah//blah")
+                .build();
+        Assert.assertThat(uri, CoreMatchers.equalTo(URI.create("ftp://somehost//blah//blah")));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testPathNoLeadingSlash() throws Exception {
+        final URI uri = new URIBuilder()
+                .setScheme("ftp")
+                .setPath("blah")
+                .build();
+        Assert.assertThat(uri, CoreMatchers.equalTo(URI.create("ftp:/blah")));
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/httpclient/src/test/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/TestURIUtils.java b/httpclient/src/test/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/TestURIUtils.java
index e33477fce8..035fad49b3 100644
--- a/httpclient/src/test/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/TestURIUtils.java
+++ b/httpclient/src/test/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/TestURIUtils.java
@@ -51,8 +51,8 @@ public void testRewrite() throws Exception {
                 URI.create("http://thishost/stuff"), null).toString());
         Assert.assertEquals("/", URIUtils.rewriteURI(
                 URI.create("http://thishost//"), null).toString());
-        Assert.assertEquals("/stuff///morestuff", URIUtils.rewriteURI(
-                URI.create("http://thishost//stuff///morestuff"), null).toString());
+        Assert.assertEquals("/stuff/morestuff", URIUtils.rewriteURI(
+                URI.create("http://thishost//stuff/morestuff"), null).toString());
         Assert.assertEquals("http://thathost/stuff", URIUtils.rewriteURI(
                 URI.create("http://thishost/stuff#crap"), target, true).toString());
         Assert.assertEquals("http://thathost/stuff#crap", URIUtils.rewriteURI(